Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
SYLLABUS
“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well; if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.”
- George Orwell
Fall, 2015
Mrs. Elaine Bell
School-Related E-mail Address: ElaineBell@hartlandschools.us
Direct Classroom Telephone Number: 810/ 626 -2348
Conference Period: Hour (3rd)
Room 306
Class Website Address (with detailed daily calendar of class activities, assignments, and due dates) :
http://www.hartlandhighschool.us/subsites/Elaine-Bell/
Notifications will be sent through Remind101 to account for any changes in the schedule or activities.
TurnItIn.com Class IDs and passwords: _________________________________________________________
To SignUp for Remind 101: Text (from the cell phone at which you wish to receive Remind 101 messages for this class)
@apcomp1 to 810-344-4324 – 1st hour or @apcomp2 to 810-344-4324 – 2nd hour
students and parents both are encouraged to register (please
visit https://www.remind101.com/ to better understand how Remind 101’s privacy works).
This Advanced Placement course in English Language and Composition will assist you in
becoming a skilled reader of prose constructed in a variety of rhetorical contexts, and in
becoming a skilled writer who composes for a variety of purposes. Both your writing and
reading will make you aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience
expectations, and subjects, as well as the way genre conventions and the resources of
language contribute to effectiveness in writing.
Course Description
AP English Language and Composition encourages students to become skilled readers of prose written
in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and to compose for a variety of purposes. Reading
and writing assignments highlight the interactions among the writer’s purpose(s), the audience’s expectation(s),
the subject matter, and the way generic conventions and language choices contribute to effective writing.
In this course, students will compose in a variety of forms—narrative, exploratory, expository,
argumentative—and on a variety of subjects from personal experiences to public policies, from imaginative
literature to popular culture. We will examine the expository, analytical, and argumentative writing that forms the
basis of academic and professional communications and the personal and reflective writing that fosters writing
facility in any context. Students will move beyond such programmatic responses as the five-paragraph essay;
although they may provide minimal organization, formulaic approaches often encourage unnecessary repetition
and fail to engage the reader. Students will be encouraged to place their emphasis on content, purpose, and
audience and to allow this focus to guide their organization. Imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative
writing, and in-class responses are just some of the assignments students can expect on a daily basis. In
addition, students will read a wide variety of prose styles from many disciplines and historical periods to gain an
understanding of the connections between interpretive skills in reading and writing. Stylistic development is
nurtured by emphasizing diction, syntax, tone, etc.
Course Goals
The primary objective in this college-level course is to enable you to compose effectively and confidently
in your college courses, across the curriculum, and in your professional life. You will learn to read primary and
secondary sources carefully and to synthesize material from these texts in your own writings.
Just as in college courses, the purpose of this course is to enable you to read complex texts with
understanding and to create prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature
readers. This course will help you move beyond the formulaic five-paragraph essay (an introduction with a thesis
and three reasons, body paragraphs on each reason, and a conclusion that restates the thesis). Although this
approach may provide minimal organization, it often encourages unnecessary repetition and fails to engage the
reader. You are encouraged to place your emphasis on content, purpose and audience and to allow this focus
to guide the organization of your writing. College writing programs recognize that skill in writing proceeds from
your awareness of your own composing processes: the way you explore ideas and draft and revise your work.
You will participate in the study of the English language itself — differences between verbal and written
discourse, formal and informal language, historical changes in speech and writing. You will also write in both
informal and formal contexts, gaining authority and learning to take risks in writing. Throughout this course you
should become increasingly aware of yourself as a writer and of the techniques employed by the writers we read.
As well as engaging in varied writing tasks, you will become acquainted with a wide variety of prose
styles from many disciplines and historical periods and gain understanding of the connections between writing
and interpretive skill in reading. Concurrently, to reflect the increasing importance of graphics and visual images
in texts published in print and electronic media, you will analyze how such images both relate to written texts
and serve as alternative forms of text themselves.
Additionally, the informed use of research materials and the ability to synthesize varied sources (to
evaluate, use and cite sources) are integral parts of college-level writing. You will move past assignments that
allow for the uncritical citation of sources and, instead, take up projects that require you to evaluate the
legitimacy and purpose of utilized sources. Research helps writers to formulate varied, informed arguments.
The researched argument expects you to consider each source as a text that was itself developed for a
particular audience and purpose. Researched argument papers remind us that we must sort through
contrasting interpretations to analyze, reflect upon, and discuss topics. When you bring the experience and
opinions of others into your essays, you enter into conversations with other writers and thinkers. The results of
such conversations are essays that use citations for substance rather than show, for dialogue rather than diatribe.
This course assumes you skillfully understand and regularly use standard English grammar; therefore,
we will employ those skills to further reflect on the link between grammar and style in writing choices. Our
intense concentration on language use will enhance your ability to use grammatical conventions appropriately
and to develop stylistic maturity in your own prose. Stylistic development will be nurtured by emphasizing a
wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively; a variety of sentence structures; logical
organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions and
emphasis; a balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail; and an effective use of rhetoric, including
controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and
sentence structure.
When reading for this class, you should become aware of how stylistic effects are achieved by writers’
linguistic choices. The main purpose of included literature is to aid you in understanding rhetorical and linguistic
choices, rather than to study literary conventions.
Upon completing the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition course,
students should be able to:
analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use of
rhetorical strategies and techniques;
apply effective strategies and techniques in your own writing;
create and sustain arguments based on readings, research and/or personal experience;
write for a variety of purposes;
produce expository, analytical and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central
idea and develop it with appropriate evidence drawn from primary and/or secondary sources,
convincing and clear explanations and clear transitions;
demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity
in your own writings;
demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources;
move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and
research, drafting, revising, editing and review;
write thoughtfully about your own process of composition;
revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience;
analyze image as text; and
evaluate and incorporate reference documents into researched papers.
The above was taken directly from the College Board AP English Language and Composition Course Description.
Grades, Late work, Attendance, and Class Procedures
First and foremost, I congratulate you on taking on the challenge of Advanced Placement. I hope you enjoy the
class and do well on the exam on ___________________(8:00 a.m. – location TBD – fee: $89 per exam).
Because this is a college level class (not a high-school-level honors course), I make certain
assumptions about you as a student. My first assumption is that you will be responsible for getting your work
completed on time and that you will attend class on time.
If you miss a day and are not certain about an assignment, it is YOUR responsibility to find out what is
due when you return to class. This means that when you are out of class, you are still expected to find out what
you need to do in order to be prepared for class upon your return. As this is a college course, the regular “high
school excused absence” policy does not apply to this class’s course work. You are, therefore, expected to
obtain any missed notes and/or verbal instructions. The answer to the question “Do I have to take this
quiz/participate in this discussion/class activity?” will always be “YES!”
Between 7:20 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. on school days, you may e-mail me at
ElaineBell@hartlandschools.us, directly telephone my classroom (810/ 626-2348), or call, text, or e-mail a
classmate (a contact list will be provided), to find out what you missed and what work you should complete. You
may also access the detailed class calendar at http://www.hartlandhighschool.us/subsites/Elaine-Bell/ for explanations
about all class activities, links to all class hand-outs, and reminders of all due dates.
You are strongly advised to take full advantage of the class website (and will be periodically required to
utilize this website for required class reading material). You may find it helpful to keep this site book marked on
your personal computer, but should ‘refresh’ it if you leave it open, since material will be added regularly.
It is also important to note that many activities and discussions will be completed in class. These are
impossible to make-up, and missing them means missing learning opportunities. If you know of an upcoming
absence, please request your assignments in advance.
It is unfair for any student to have more time to compose an essay than any other student.
Additionally, this is a luxury and privilege you will never receive in your college courses. For that reason,
whether you are present in class or not, late work will not receive credit. There are very few, extreme
exceptions to this rule. Therefore, if you are ill or out for a school-excused or other type of function, you need to
make arrangements for your assignments to be turned in by the end of the school day (2:20 p.m.).
When formal essays are due, you will typically be required to submit them in TWO forms: by 2:20 p.m.
on TurnItIn.com and as a hard copy (word processed) to your AP Comp teacher, also by 2:20 p.m. on the due
date. Your hard copy must be an exact replica of your electronic submission. You will NEVER be permitted to
print work in this classroom (there is no printer in here); if you need to create your hard copy using HHS media
center or computer lab resources, please allow time in your schedule to do so before 2:20 p.m. You will NOT be
given passes to leave this class to utilize the media center or a computer lab.
The 2:20 p.m. submission time ONLY applies to formal work not being completed for in-class use for
discussions or activities. Regular, daily work - the completion of which is necessary for successful classmaterial understanding - is due at the beginning of your class hour. If it is not complete for class, you will not be
prepared to participate appropriately in class, and, therefore, will be choosing to receive a score of zero for that
assignment, even if you complete it by 2:20 p.m. that day. Since 2:20 p.m. is past the time it is due, it will be
late, and late work will not receive credit in this class.
If your only option for turning an assignment in on time (due to your physical absence) is electronically,
through TurnItIn.com or e-mail please bring a hard copy of the assignment with you to class upon your return. I
will use the electronic version as acceptance of on-time submission and will only accept this solitary submission
for receipt of work when physically absent – you should not submit work electronically only when present in
school; your hard copy should also be submitted on time.
I will grade and return the hard copy of all formal essays. The TurnItIn.com or e-mail submission will be
used to evaluate your assignment for plagiarism, a serious offense, punishable with a non-negotiable score of
zero. You may submit your written work to TurnItIn.com as many times as you like before the final due
date/time. The most recent submission will always overwrite the prior submission, and I will only be able to see
the final submission – I will not even look to see how many times it was submitted. Please feel free to use
TurnItIn.com to check for any errors resulting in plagiarism, so that they may be corrected before my final assessment.
My second assumption is that you will completely read every piece of reading assigned. Because
you will be required to read, analyze, explain, and interpret the items we read, it is very important that you do not
substitute your reading with Cliffs Notes, Barron Notes, Spark Notes, Pink Monkey Notes, or any other
summaries; nor should you rely on the movie versions of books, since they are often very different.
Additionally, verbal summaries of works from classmates will not aid you in class discussions, since this
class focuses on written language (word choice, sentence structure, tone, connotation, organization, etc.), not
content. The best way to be successful with the assignments during the year is to read thoughtfully and carefully.
Further, you will do yourself no favors in terms of learning how to analyze language if you rely on the
internet; looking up other people’s discussions and analysis of various pieces of writing will not assist you in
developing your interpretation skills, on the contrary, it will have quite the opposite effect, increasing your
dependency on such tools. There are no magic devices I can provide you with for learning to become a better
reader. You simply must develop your skills through thinking and discussion. There are no wrong answers
when it comes to literature interpretation and language analysis; there are only unsupported answers. You will
be expected to support your opinions about a piece of writing with specific examples from the text, which will be
difficult for you to provide if you do not complete the reading.
My third assumption is that you will inform me of any problems you have with the subject content of
reading assignments and/or discussions presented in class. Since the bulk of this class (as is expected by the
College Board) deals with nonfiction literature, much of your reading material deals with sensitive topics. I
cannot possibly be aware of your comfort level of different ideas discussed in class if you do not inform me.
During class discussions it is expected that I, as well as every other member of this class, will be respectful of
everyone’s opinion. If an issue arises, I expect to hear from YOU. Please feel free to come see me privately
during or after school hours. While I have very high expectations of your performance and maturity as a
student, and maintain this expectation by holding you to requirements and standards, I have a great deal of
respect for your opinions and feelings. I will always listen to and address your concerns thoughtfully and
respectfully, but I cannot read minds. Please do not be apprehensive about approaching me; my first
responsibility is to provide you with a high-quality, meaningful education, and will always strive to make this
classroom an effective and comfortable learning environment for you.
Notes and Note-taking: You will live and die by your notes in college and in Advance Placement courses.
Concepts we discuss through the entire school year will be needed at various times throughout the entirety of
the school year. Ideas we discuss this year will be of use in the majority of your college courses. So guess
what? I will expect you to remember them. Your failure to remember points made in this class throughout the
year will prove absolutely detrimental to you in May when you attempt the A.P. Composition exam. If you are
among those students who feel they may forget a reference made in passing, then referred to again some
months later, you need to take notes. Since you are a high level student, choosing to challenge yourself with an
A.P. course and planning to pursue a college degree, I leave this responsibility to you. No one will watch over
you and hold you accountable for your learning and success in college. I will not inform you when you need to
take notes; likewise, neither will your college professors – because the need goes without saying. Therefore,
this year and next is the perfect time to master the skill of further developing and maintaining your own learning
and academic success. Organizational expertise will prove very valuable in this endeavor.
HALL PASSES will be issued only in accordance with the Hartland High School policy: only in emergency
situations or during the first and last ten minutes of class. Failure to attend class prepared with all needed
materials does NOT constitute an emergency. Students entering class after the required start time will be
marked as TARDY. Please sign-out when using the restroom.
Assessment: Student assessment will be based on in-class and out-of-class essays (please plan to submit
roughly one full essay every two weeks), daily assignments, class participation (discussions), quizzes (including
“pop” quizzes, based on the content of reading assignments), exams, and presentations. Cumulative exams
(with essay components) will be administered at the end of both semesters.
Netiquette: When sending me e-mail, please clearly identify
the purpose of your inquiry in the subject line. Please use
professional English, punctuation, and grammar; do not fall into
the bad habit of “e-speak.” This is not appropriate for
professional and academic messages.
E-mail messages written with a blatant lack of
capitalization, use of slang, informal language, and
phonetic/incorrect spelling have no place in the work place or
world of academia. They show disrespect to the recipient and
lack of thoughtfulness on the part of the writer, when sent to a
colleague or superior. You need to make a conscious effort to
correct this habit through electronic communication with your
current educators.
I will respond to direct questions about assignments
before reading through and commenting on drafts of essay
assignments. You should expect to receive a response within
forty-eight hours; if you do not, please re-send your original
message.
If you need information immediately, please
telephone (810/ 626-2348) or visit my classroom personally.
Also, if you need to address me about a topic of a sensitive nature or a disagreement, please address
me directly in person. E-mail is not the proper communication venue to use, with anyone, when tackling a
problem.
Hartland High School Responsibility Protocol: Hartland High School has an expectation that
students will take responsibility for their own learning. Communicating with teachers is key to student success.
If an issue or question arises pertaining to a particular class, the student should:
FIRST talk to the teacher in an attempt to resolve it. If the student feels further discussion is needed, s/he should:
THEN make an appointment with his/her school counselor.
* It is important for students to follow this protocol.
If a parent feels that further discussion is needed, the teacher should then be contacted by the parent.
Class Textbook: The good news is you do not physically have a bound textbook for this class. The further
good news is that you should end up feeling more than comfortable with the electronic usage expectations that
will most certainly be placed upon you by your college instructors. The absence of a bound textbook, however,
does not mean you do not have a collection of readings you are expected to utilize to complete your assignments.
Your “textbook” is located through the Class Website at
http://www.hartlandhighschool.us/subsites/Elaine-Bell/
You are likely to find book marking this site on your ‘regular’ computer helpful, as you will be required to
complete reading in this class almost daily, and will be required to access some of that material yourself (hard
copies will not be distributed for every reading assignment).
It will be an extremely rare instance that an assignment will be assigned with a due date of the very next
school day (although this will occur on occasion). Therefore, not only will it be very important for you to
effectively time manage, it will also be important for you to remain cognizant of upcoming reading assignments
that should be accessed from the internet. You will find it much more to your advantage to not just read these
pieces, but to also have hard copies of them available to you for completing assignments and referring to during
class discussions.
Additionally, your class website contains a detailed, daily calendar of activities and due dates. This
calendar is ALWAYS extremely up-to-date, with assignments listed far in advance. Students who choose to use
the class website will find the work load of this class much less daunting than those who do not.
In short, you will always be given exceptionally adequate time to acquire hard copies of your reading
assignments. Since internet services are always available in this building, and you are permitted to print all
necessary materials on campus, there are no acceptable excuses for lack of material acquisition and
assignment completion.
Beginning in October, you will be given one HHS Media Center “Work Day” every other school week
(typically on Wednesday). You may use these days to complete any number of school assignments and/or
make-up any missed tests or quizzes in this class. I also suggest that you use these days to check the class
calendar to make sure you have hard copies of all upcoming assignments.
HHS progress reports will be mailed home at the completion of every marking period (every six weeks),
with grade up-dates for all classes. Individual progress reports, detailing this class, will not be sent home.
Students and parents have regular access to a detailed and up-to-date grade book for this class through the use
of MiStar. It is the student’s responsibility to utilize MiStar for information about current class grade and missing
assignments – this information will not be available in class.
Missing assignments (not turned in by the student) in this class will be coded as such, with a blank
–the gradebook will indicate that the assignment is not graded if the blank score is not a missing
assignment. A blank field calculates as a zero in my grade book.
Grading Scale:
At Hartland High School we are bringing more consistency and accuracy to the academic marks we provide for
students. This year, all HHS teachers are engaging in a simple and easy-to-understand grading and reporting scale
(the 4-point scale), which is consistent with GPA scales and what colleges use.
How it Works:
In class, students will be graded on the following scale:
4.0 - A
1.7 - C-
3.7 - A1.3 - D+
3.3 - B+
1.0 - D
3.0 - B
0.7 - D-
2.7 - B0.3 - E
2.3 - C+
2.0 - C
0.0 - No Attempt
In MiSTAR, you will notice that all grades in the grade book are represented by a number as shown above. These
numbers represent the grade your student received on the assignment. If a student received a B+ on a paper, the
grade book will show a 3.3 for the mark.
Every assignment/quiz/test/essay/presentation/etc. will be weighted, based on its overall level of "importance" in terms
of amount of work required and necessity of mastery. In Mrs. Bell’s grade book you will see "assignments" weighted
in the following five categories (the higher the percentage, the more that score impacts your student's overall/total
class grade - this is also an indication of the level of "importance" of assignments):
Practice 5%
Diagnostic 10%
Formative 15%
Application 30%
Summative 40%
This standardized 4-point scale will help bring much-needed consistency and clarity to the marks students are given in
each course and on each assignment. Furthermore, you will be able to directly compare your student's classroom
grades to his/her overall historic GPA marks. If you have any questions or need clarification, please contact Mrs. Bell
at ElaineBell@HartlandSchools.US or 810-626-2348.
THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS ARE RECOMMENDED TO BE AQUIRED FOR CLASS NO
LATER THAN NEXT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th:
*If you are unable, for ANY reason, to acquire these items, please see me no later than this Friday,
September 11th. I will willingly, happily, and without judgment, provide you with all of the following.
You may see me in my classroom before or after school.
One two- or three- (preferably) inch three-ringed binder,
at least twelve dividers (with or without pockets – this is your preference),
several pencils,
several erasers,
several highlighters,
several red ink pens, and
several blue and/or black ink pens.
Recommended for use at home: One file box or one additional three-inch three-ringed binders with several dividers.
These will be used to maintain organization of class materials you will want to keep for upcoming use, but will no longer need in
the classroom.
Mrs. Bell’s “Wish List”
Please know that I will try to make all of the below listed items available at all times to my students, but still appreciate any
help you’re willing to provide in helping me do so. This message is not meant to impose a requirement upon my students; it
is merely meant to graciously request any help you are willing and able to provide in keeping our classroom and its students
well provided for. Thank you.
Pencils, Blue and/or black ink pens
Paper clips, Large pink erasers or pencil top erasers
Dry Erase markers
Scotch tape, masking tape, painter’s tape (doesn’t damage walls)
Highlighters, Red ink pens
Hand sanitizer
Construction paper, College-ruled loose leaf paper
Clorox or Lysol wipes
Post-it tabs and notes
Soft Kleenex or facial tissue
Please return only the signed portion of the syllabus below, due on or before Friday, Sept. 11.
Student’s Name: __________________________________________ Class Hour: ________
“I have read and understand the rules and expectations of the HHS 2015 – 2016 Advanced Placement English
Language and Composition Course”:
Student’s Signature: ____________________________________ Date: ___________________
“I have read and discussed the HHS 2015 - 2016 Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Syllabus with my child, and am familiar with the expectations being placed upon him/her for this school year.”
Parent/Guardian’s Signature: _________________________________ Date: _______________
*All parent/guardian contact information is available to your student’s teachers, counselor, and administrators through
MiStar. Please confirm, through MiStar, that your information is current. If you would like me to contact you (if the need
arises) through a different e-mail address or telephone number than the one(s) recorded on MiStar, please e-mail me with
this information at ElaineBell@hartlandschools.us.